Shame--what Happened When My Mother,

The Saved Sinner Is Prostrate In Adoration, Lost In Wonder And Praise. He Knows Repentance Is Not What We Do In Order To Earn Forgiveness; It Is What We Do Because We Have Been Forgiven. It Serves As An Expression Of Gratitude Rather Than An Effort To Earn Forgiveness. Thus The Sequence Of Forgiveness And Then Repentance, Rather Than Repentance And Then Forgiveness, Is Crucial For Understanding The Gospel Of Grace.

Being The Beloved Is Our Identity, The Core Of Our Existence. It Is Not Merely A Lofty Thought, An Inspiring Idea, Or One Name Among Many. It Is The Name By Which God Knows Us And The Way He Relates To Us

In Human Beings, Love Is A Quality, A High-prized Virtue; In God, Love Is His Identity.

It Is For The Inconsistent, Unsteady Disciples Whose Cheese Is Falling Off Their Cracker.

For Ragamuffins, God's Name Is Mercy. We See Our Darkness As A Prized Possession Because It Drives Us Into The Heart Of God. Without Mercy Our Darkness Would Plunge Us Into Despair - For Some, Self-destruction. Time Alone With God Reveals The Unfathomable Depths Of The Poverty Of The Spirit. We Are So Poor That Even Our Poverty Is Not Our Own: It Belongs To The Mysterium Tremendum Of A Loving God.